Clouds and Lemonade
by Kharma
Summary: One of the after effects of Buffy's experiment with beer.


Title: Clouds and Lemonade  
  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimer: All hail Joss Whedon for creating the most engaging characters that my poor TV has seen for a long time (in other words, they're not mine).  
  
Spoilers: Beer Bad (and a few other tiny ones)  
  
Warning: Buffy/Giles. If that's not your thing then please don't read it.  
  
Summary: The after effects of Buffy's experiment with beer.  
  
Notes: Although I have been writing for about a year now, this is my first ever Buffy fic, so please be gentle if you decide to review. I know this has been done before and probably a hell of a lot better than this, but I couldn't resist it.  
  
The tinkle of breaking glass woke Giles from the light doze he had fallen into while laying on the bed and reading. "What the hell?" he muttered and reached for the switch on the bedside lamp. Switching it off, he sat quietly for a moment and listened for any further noise. When he heard the unmistakable sound of somebody bumping into the furniture followed by an exclamation of pain, he scowled.  
  
"Isn't it enough that I live on top of the bloody Hellmouth, I have to get incompetent burglars as well?" he quietly asked no one in particular. Reaching under the bed, he pulled out the baseball bat that he habitually kept there and quietly crept over to the door. Opening it a fraction, he listened carefully but didn't hear any further sounds. He did however catch a hint of perfume, a perfume that was tantalisingly familiar but it took him a moment to place it. It was the scent that he had bought Buffy for Christmas the previous year and that she only wore on special occasions. The thought made him sigh sadly. He knew that there hadn't been too many special occasions in her life lately, and if she had decided to wear the perfume in an effort to cheer herself up while she was on patrol, then he certainly wasn't going to berate her too hard for it.  
  
There was something nagging at his memory, but Giles couldn't quite figure out what it was. With a shrug, he pulled the door open and flipped on the light. He looked down at Buffy from his vantage of one floor above and suddenly remembered. Before he had a chance to go downstairs and stop her from doing any more damage to his apartment, the phone started ringing, making Buffy jump in surprise and then glare suspiciously at the offending object.  
  
Giles walked back into his bedroom and picked up the phone from his bedside cabinet. He smiled slightly when Willow started babbling before he could say anything.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Giles. I don't know what happened. I just popped out to use the bathroom and she got away from me. I could have sworn I locked the door behind me, but I couldn't have. I'll call Xander and we'll go out and start looking for her right away. Oh, if something happens to her, I'll never forgive myself."  
  
"Willow," Giles said with a slight laugh. "Calm down. Everything's okay. You don't need to go out and look for her, Buffy's here. She's safe."  
  
"Thank God," Willow breathed and then sighed. "Giles," she said quietly. "Are you mad at me?"  
  
"Why on earth would I be mad at you?" Giles asked, honestly confused by her question.  
  
"Well, because I should have been looking after her but I let her get away. Anything could have happened to her on the way over to you and it would have been all my fault."  
  
"My dear girl," Giles said warmly. "I could never be angry at you. If it's anybody's fault that Buffy got away from you tonight, it's mine. I should have brought her home with me in the first place and not left it to you. The important thing is that she's safe now, so why don't you go to bed and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning, all right?"  
  
"All right, Giles," Willow said as she fought back a yawn, making Giles smile. He was just about to put the phone down when he heard Willow say quietly, "Did you know that you're the sweetest man in the whole world?"  
  
"Willow," he said feeling absurdly pleased by the sentiment. "That has to be the nicest thing that anybody has ever said to me. Thank you."  
  
"It's true, you know," Willow said and Giles could hear the smile in her voice. "Every girl who's ever met you think so," she added mischievously.  
  
"Yes, well," he said, embarrassed and Willow giggled.  
  
"Goodnight Giles," she said quietly. "I love you."  
  
Giles never got a chance to answer her because she had hung up, leaving him staring at the phone for a second. "I love you, too," he said quietly before replacing the receiver. He sat there in thought for a moment. A large piece of his heart belonged to Willow for the simple reason that she was Buffy's friend. From the very first day that Buffy had started at Sunnydale High, Willow, along with Xander and to a lesser extent Cordelia, had instantly given his Slayer the love and acceptance that she had desperately craved.  
  
Over the intervening years, he had seen Willow grow from a shy, hesitant girl into a confident, beautiful young woman with an unprecedented talent for magic and a heart big enough for all Sunnydale. Life hadn't always been easy for her, but she had come through all her difficulties with a grace that he found incredible in one so young and he prayed that one day she would find true happiness.  
  
A crash from downstairs attracted his attention and he sighed. He walked across the room and looked over the railing that ran the length of the upper floor. Buffy was sitting in the middle of the living room floor, happily looking through a photo album that she had got out of the cupboard by the simple expedient of pulling off the doors. She was humming to herself and gently touching the faces of the people in the photos. "It's going to be a long night," Giles muttered to himself as he walked downstairs.  
  
"Buffy," he said quietly so as not to startle her. "What are you doing?"  
  
Buffy looked up and grinned. "Giles!" she said happily and then threw herself into his arms. Giles automatically folded his arms around her and held on as she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. He couldn't help wincing when she squeezed a little too hard and Buffy instantly let go and stepped back.  
  
Giles was confused for a moment, but when he saw her drop her head and wipe her eyes he realised she was upset. "Buffy," he said quietly, reaching out and gently lifting her chin so that she looked at him. "What is it?"  
  
"Buffy hurt Giles," she said sadly.  
  
"No, Buffy. You didn't hurt me, I'm fine," he said with a reassuring smile.  
  
"Buffy not hurt Giles?" she asked and he smiled.  
  
Gently wiping the tears away from her cheeks he leaned down and kissed her fondly on the forehead. "No, love. You didn't hurt me."  
  
Buffy smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist again being careful not to squeeze him too hard this time, a fact that he was incredibly grateful for. She suddenly giggled and let go of his waist, only to grab his wrist and drag him over to where she had left the photo album on the floor. Sinking down to sit cross-legged on the floor, she patted the space next to her, "Sit," she demanded and grinned when Giles obediently did as he was told.  
  
Pulling the album onto her lap, she started humming quietly to herself. Giles found it strangely comforting to be sitting in his darkened living room with Buffy by his side, as she absently hummed something that he soon recognised as her favourite song. After a few minutes, Buffy came to the pictures of the birthday party that the Scooby Gang had thrown for Giles the year before.  
  
Slowly turning the pages, Buffy giggled as she came to one of Xander backed into a corner while she had pretended to stake him with a carrot because he had made her jump in the kitchen. "Xander silly," she said with a giggle and Giles smiled.  
  
"Xander is very silly," he agreed whole-heartedly before turning his attention back to the album. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes after that, the only sound was Buffy's humming and the occasional giggle when she came across a picture that she particularly liked.  
  
The realisation that Buffy had stopped humming and was silently staring at a picture snapped Giles out of thoughts of how good she smelt and how soft her skin was as their arms occasionally brushed. "What are you looking at, love?" he asked quietly.  
  
Buffy gently brushed her fingers across the page without answering him and Giles looked down. The picture that had captured her attention was of the two of them. Xander had taken it just as Giles had brushed a perfectly chaste kiss on her forehead as he said goodnight to them all at the door.  
  
Giles looked on as Buffy's fingers traced over the page and then she looked up at him. Setting the book down, she moved around so that she was kneeling in front of him. Giles had no idea what she was doing but he didn't interrupt her, instead he moved so that he was sitting in the same position as she was.  
  
Buffy's hands came up and rested on either side of his face to hold him still. She let him go with one hand and gently traced her fingers over his face for a moment, lingering on the bump on his nose where his glasses rested and running up and down the scar on his forehead. Giles was becoming more and more confused but when he tried to speak, she covered his mouth with one finger and firmly told him, "Shhh!" She didn't remove her finger until Giles nodded to show he understood.  
  
Smiling slightly, Buffy removed his glasses and carefully folded them before putting them on the coffee table. Once again holding his head still, she stared deep into his eyes as if searching for something. Giles tried not to squirm under her penetrating gaze and he couldn't help wondering what it was she was looking for. Whatever it was she seemed to find it because she suddenly grinned, nodded decisively and released him.  
  
Moving her hand from his face to the top button of his shirt, Buffy started unbuttoning it, only pausing long enough to push his hands away with a firm "No!" when he tried to stop her. Once she had his shirt undone all the way, she waited while he shrugged out of it and then reached out and touched his chest. "Angel," she said sadly as she gently ran her fingers over the scars that covered his bare torso. She giggled when her fingers brushed over the sensitive skin on his side, making him shudder. Buffy glanced up at him with a wicked smiled before doing it again.  
  
"Buffy," Giles protested with a groan. "Please don't do that."  
  
Buffy giggled but did as she was asked. Leaning forward slightly she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes as she listened to his heartbeat. Opening her eyes, she looked up at him and Giles resisted the incredible temptation to bend down and kiss her. He badly wanted to, but he knew that she probably wouldn't remember any of what was happening the next day and he couldn't take advantage of her like that. If he ever gave in to his feelings for his Slayer, he needed her to know exactly what was happening and for it to be something that they both wanted.  
  
Buffy sat up and placed her hand over his heart. Feeling it beat beneath her palm, she smiled smugly. "Mine!" Buffy stated and Giles could only nod in agreement. From the day she had walked into the library at Sunnydale High and told him that she just wanted to be left alone he had belonged to her; mind, heart, body and soul.  
  
He yelped slightly in surprise when Buffy suddenly pushed him so he was laying flat on his back on the floor. Snagging a cushion off the couch, Buffy tenderly placed it under his head before lying down next to him. She turned on her side and draped herself over him with her head resting on his chest, just over his heart. With a contented little sigh, she snuggled closer and her eyes drifted closed. Just before she fell asleep, she reached up, gently kissed his jaw and murmured, "Love Giles."  
  
Giles felt tears spring to his eyes at her words. He knew that she probably wouldn't remember anything of the night's proceedings the next day, but those two simple words had given him hope that one day his love for the woman in his arms would be returned.  
  
Giles, fully intending to take Buffy upstairs and put her to bed properly one he was sure she was asleep, nevertheless sighed and closed his eyes. His last conscious thought was, "Maybe enchanted beer is good for something after all."  
  
The End  
  
A/N: Please, please, please review. If you absolutely must make it a bad review, then please make your criticisms constructive. Flames are nobody's friend (except for my pet dragon, who eats them for lunch). 


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